How stone is transported around the country

Careful consideration and impressive planning must be taken when transporting bulk rock, gravel, sand and other natural minerals from quarries and gravel pits. Stone is one of the heaviest types of natural resources transported in the world, Different types of stone and other decorative landscape products can be mined and quarried from locations all over the globe, providing customers with the perfect decorative stone for their landscaping project can require several different modes of transportation before reaching its ultimate destination.

Intermodal Containers

Intermodal freight transport is when cargo is transported in rectangular containers, that are 40 feet long the majority of the time. These Intermodal containers help to reduce the need for any excessive cargo handling. This improves security while reducing loss and possible damage to the stone. Intermodal containers are standardized, which means that they can be easily transported from the quarries onto ships, trains, and trucks.

Stone Comes from Afar

Many popular stone products available in bulk that are used in the United States must be mined or quarried from locations on other sides of the United States. Stone is a natural product, large distributors like Home Depot and Lowe’s heavily research other natural offerings of mines and quarries in other regions and countries, as their landscape products often differ greatly in price from the stone products produced depending on what region or country that the aggregates come from. Belgian blocks are mined and cut to specification in India and transported on large cargo ships that can hold more than 50,000+tons of material before being packaged onto pallets. Additionally, many of the famed “Mexican Beach Pebbles” are hand-picked and palletized in South America or Mexico by individual laborers to create the most attractive stone combination. Eventually, those pallets are loaded into intermodal containers or flatbed trailers and then transported to their destination. Trucks are used for the majority of the time to transport intermodal containers to their final destination.

There are Large suppliers, like Pebble Junction in Florida, that use rail to transport their stone long distances from their quarry to their supply yard in Florida. Trucking is used when moving stone in tri-axle dump trucks or bulk material trailers like end dumps and belt trailers. Most smaller suppliers use this method to transport stone if it does not need to be hauled in great distances or in large quantities.

Final Delivery

Once the stone or gravel product is delivered at the local landscape supply yard, it must be delivered to its final resting location. The stone is delivered to the homeowner or commercial location by truck. The stone can be applied with hand tools like shovels and metal rakes across the desired area like flower beds and water features. At this time, the gravel has reached its final destination, producing the perfect aesthetic for landscaping projects all over the nation or even world!

Many of our stone products are loaded onto several different forms of transportation and often travel thousands of miles from their source, making them a unique addition to any properties landscaping and outdoor atmosphere. One product is our variety of quartzite from the Rocky Mountains!

Some of our unique gravel and stone products are great conversation starters, our aquamarine line of stone, found deep in the Rocky Mountains is a great stone color and material to really stand out. New England River Rock(TM) is a beautiful option to give your backyard some character. We supply this stone in bulk quantities at our Northeast distribution yard at 592 Hill Rd, Thomaston, CT and is available for wholesale purchase throughout the entire year. Check out more at discountriverrock.com